Tag Archives: reparative therapy

Mel White, a renowned openly gay clergyman, says he regrets donating seed money to Exodus International, the “ex-gay” Christian ministry that claimed it could cure homosexuality with prayer and therapy based on Biblical passages. On Wednesday, Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International – whose work infuriated many gay-rights activists – apologized to the gay community, renouncing the controversial therapies, and announced the ministry would close.The methods also were rejected by mainstream associations representing psychiatrists and psychologists, who said the method caused depression, anxiety and suicide. Photo by Sean Hiller/Staff photographer

LONG BEACH – Mel White, the renowned openly gay clergyman, says he regrets donating seed money to Exodus International, the “ex-gay” Christian ministry that claimed it could cure homosexuality with prayer and therapy based on Biblical passages.

On Wednesday, Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International – whose work infuriated many gay-rights activists – apologized to the gay community, renouncing the controversial therapies, and announced the ministry would close.

The methods also were rejected by mainstream associations representing psychiatrists and psychologists, who said the method caused depression, anxiety and suicide.

Butters Stotch said he was “bi-curious” and sent away to gay camp to change his sexual confusion in a episode of “South Park.” (Photo courtesy of Comedy Central.)

By The Associated Press

A federal appeals court on Friday put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law banning therapy aimed at turning gay youth straight.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the emergency order putting the law on hold until the court can hear full arguments on the measure’s constitutionality.

The law was set to take effect Jan. 1.

Licensed counselors who practice so-called “reparative therapy” and two families who say their teenage sons have benefited from the practice sought the injunction after a lower court judge refused the request.

“Ex-gay therapy” or “reparative therapy” has been condemned by every major medical and psychological organization in the country as harmful and dangerous.

“There has been no scientifically adequate research that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation is safe or effective,” the American Psychological Association has said.

(The loopy and absurd technique also became infamous after the 2007 “South Park” episode “Cartman Sucks.” Butters Stotch’s parents thought he was “bi-curious” and sent to him a pray-the-gay-away camp, where several youth committed suicide after
being told they were sexually confused. – Out in the 562)

California’s law, SB1172, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this fall, says therapists and counselors who use “sexual orientation change efforts” on clients under 18 would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by state licensing boards.

Butters Scotch said he was “bi-curious” and sent away to gay camp to change his sexual confusion in a episode of “South Park.” (Photo courtesy of Comedy Central.)

By Lisa Leff, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked California from enforcing a first-of-its-kind law that bars licensed psychotherapists from working to change the sexual orientations of gay minors, but he limited the scope of his order to just the three providers who have appealed to him to overturn the measure.

U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb made a decision just hours after a hearing on the issue, ruling that the First Amendment rights of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals who engage in “reparative” or “conversion” therapy outweigh concern that the practice poses a danger to young people.

“Even if SB 1172 is characterized as primarily aimed at regulating conduct, it also extends to forms of (conversion therapy) that utilize speech and, at a minimum, regulates conduct that has an incidental effect on speech,” Shubb wrote.

The judge also disputed the California Legislature’s finding that trying to change young people’s sexual orientation puts them at risk for suicide or depression, saying it was based on “questionable and scientifically incomplete studies.”

(The loopy and absurd technique also became infamous after the 2007 “South Park” episode “Cartman Sucks.” Butters Stotch’s parents thought he was “bi-curious” and sent to him a pray-the-gay-away camp, where several youth committed suicide after
being told they were sexually confused. – Out in the 562)